I was at the gas station getting cigarettes and noticed a penny out of the bunch was grey, I'd say it's uniformly grey but i'm no coin collector so i'm looking for help figuring out more about this penny. Info in case the pics are eligible: year: 1968 mint stamp?: D Notes: -this penny weighs 3.10g, other pennies weighed between 2.45g and 2.52g -"liberty" and "in god we trust" seems to be slightly touching the edge more so than other pennies i'm comparing it to, as if the front is larger than normal. -the back seems to sit withing the ridge properly. Protrudes more than a normal penny in my opinion. -The edges and figures seem to protrude more than a "normal" penny's. -doesn't seem to be very worn for a 1968 penny that i got from a fast-food place or gas station. thanks for reading. please let me know if i can add more info to help.
Just putting this out there, pre-1982 pennies weigh 3.11 grams. So I would think your coin is within the allowed tolerance levels at the mint.
hmm so, probably not fake? Any clue as to the grey color? I've read about people stripping it with acid, or just running it in a dryer.
The coin you have is pre-1982, so doesn't have layers to strip, it is solid 95% copper. Grey-->dark brown-black is a normal way for toning-patina to occur. Not the most common result, but still within range, so normal appearance. Welcome to the forum! Jim
1968 D are copper cents weighing about 3.1 grams. Cents were changed in composition in 1982 to copper coated zinc. Those weigh about 2.5 grams. There are a number of double die varieties of the 1968 Ds and a good reference for those is www.coppercoin.com. Discoloration of copper can be caused by heat, chemicals, environmental, etc. During the 60s a lot of high schools had shop classes and cents were used in experiments. You find a few that were acid soaked to reduce their size to that of a dime for parking meters and vending machines. Although most acid dipped cents seem to be earlier dated. Good eye ! Good luck searching. You won't find anything if you aren't looking !
